Sundew
by halcyonranhuer
Summary: One summer, Hikari brought a potted sundew for Takeru to care for. Immediately, a series of unfortunate events started to unfold. (Prompt fic)


**Disclaimer: I don't own digmon.**

**Please enjoy the story.**

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><p><strong>Mucilage<strong>

**1) Any various gummy secretions or gelatinous substances present in plants**

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><p>Love begins in complex ways. Sometimes, by a simple gaze or a slight graze of the shoulders. Maybe at other times, the play of a common melody or the taste of the same cake. It is unfathomable. That is its nature of such.<p>

It was August. One day during that sweltering summer season, Hikari turned up at his doorstep with a potted plant in her hands.

"It looks weird." He mused, as he probed its many edges. She pulled his hand back, looking slightly upset.

"My mother had too many plants at the balcony. She had to give some away, so I thought I would give you one." Hikari explained as she set the plant near the opened window.

"Why this one?"

"Because… it's unique." She glanced up at him for a moment, before pulling brown locks of hair away from her face. As she did, he quietly looked at her. The afternoon sun had been particularly bright. What he saw was the silhouette of slightly similar of that a woman, distanced from the girl she no longer was.

When she turned, he also turned away. For a moment, he wondered why he was facing the kitchen wall towards the left. It was after a minute or so when he got up to look at the plant.

"The plant has dew hanging off its tips." He stated bluntly.

"It's a sundew." Came the reply.

"It's quite beautiful." The green, which he had presumed that it was the leaves of the plant, twirled towards the end had an assortment of red stalks to it. On each of the red, it seem to carry a transparent sphere. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a coated with a small drop of water. The few drops of circular clear liquid always seen on plants in the early dawn, dew drops.

It was probably due to a newfound habit as to why he kept touching the plant unknowingly. This time round, he got a light tap on the hand.

"It has to feed." Hikari's cheeks were flushed from the heat. He had noticed the perspiration trails down her head. Her shirt had small patches of wet. She had to be uncomfortable. Even he could feel the increasing dampness on his shirt.

"Ah, yes. Photosynthesis." He said it half- heartedly, as he tried to hunt for the air conditioner remote.

"No, it's carnivorous."

"Excuse me?" He looked up at her, wide eyed. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He had found the remote then and had already proceeded to turn the air conditioner on. For that moment, there was silence. The both of them quietly relishing the much desired cool air.

"Sundews are carnivorous plants. It uses the 'dew' you were talking about to catch an unsuspecting prey. They're only insects." She hurried the last part of the sentence.

"Oh, like the Venus flytrap and Pitcher plant?"

She nodded her head in reply.

"It's particularly beautiful though." He grinned. "Thanks."

She too, had smiled. It was then she held a slip in front of his face. He recognized it to be a photo they had taken last summer with the rest of the group and their digimon.

"You are always so outstanding in a picture." She giggled. "I can always spot you in an instant."

"I can't help it. It's always my hair and eyes." He mumbled, somewhat sheepish.

"It's beautiful. Not everyone has blond hair and blue eyes, Takeru." She pouted a little, before turning back to look at him.

"I think your sundew is prettier though." He said. He felt his cheeks flushing. It had to be the summer heat. There was a still silence, before the soft buzzing of the phone disrupted it. Takeru knew Hikari had to leave soon. Taichi had wanted to bring her out to the mall this afternoon. She was only able to make a short visit to his place today.

"Then take good care of it, alright?"

"Yes, of course."

He walked with her until they met Taichi. He had continued watching them even after they had disappeared into the distance. The afternoon was getting awfully warm. He decided he would retreat into his room for a while. Before he went in, he noticed how beautiful the sundew was bathing in the sun rays. However he had not noticed that one of its leaves was twirled up. He not noticed an insect trapped, struggling for the last breath of its life.

It was a beautiful plant indeed.

He had not heard his phone rang when he decided he would go out for dinner.

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><p><strong>This fic is also part of a prompt challenge. My prompt word for the first chapter is "Mucilage". It's the dew drop like substance in the sundew if it is sill unclear.<strong>

**Word count requirement: 800 words or less**

**Word count: 766**

**Reviewing helps a lot. I need feedback for improvement. If you could drop one, I'll be quite grateful. Thanks!**


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